DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.41455#0145
Jan
Stanislawski
1860 Olszana - 1907 Cracow
Jan Stanislawski’s family, resident in a faraway part
of the Ukraine, was one of the many Polish families
from the borderlands who had assimilated into the
reality of the Russian empire. The painter’s father, Anto-
ni - a lawyer and a poet - was a lecturer at the Univer-
sities of Kazan and Kharkov. He had also made a name
for himself as the translator of Dante’s Divine Comedy
into Polish and Russian.
Jan Stanislawski attended secondary school in Kazan
and Kiev. Next he completed mathematical studies in
Warsaw and went to St Petersburg to study at the Insti-
tute of Technology. Soon, however, he returned to War-
saw with the intention of devoting his life to art and
joined the Drawing Class of Wojciech Gerson. In 1883-
1884, he also studied at the School of Fine Arts in Cra-
cow, inter alia, under Wladyslaw tuszczkiewicz. Al-
ready in 1883, Stanislawski’s first works were exhibited by
the Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts in War-
saw. In the years 1885-1888, the artist studied in Paris at
the atelier of Emile Carolus-Duran. In 1890, he exhib-
ited for the first time his Ukrainian landscapes at the Sa-
lon du Champ de Mars, winning praise from the critics.
From 1895 to 1896, he contributed some landscape sec-
tions to The Crossing of the Berezina panorama (work-
ing jointly with Julian Falat, Wojciech Kossak and others),
and in 1896-1898 - to the Golgotha panorama (painted
with Jan Styka, Tadeusz Popiel and Zygmunt Rozwa-
dowski). In those years Stanislawski participated in
numerous exhibitions, for instance in Kiev and Berlin.
In 1897, Stanislawski became one of the founders of the
Polish Artists’ Society “Sztuka”, of which he was a board
member and, for a while, President. He took part in all the
collective exhibitions organized by the Society in Poland
and abroad. In the same year he was appointed “provision-
al instructor” at the School of Fine Arts in Cracow. In 1900,
Stanislawski became a professor extraordinarius of that
School, and six years later was promoted to the rank of
professor ordinarius. At the School (later turned into an
Academy) he taught landscape classes and often took his
students to plein-air sessions in Zakopane or the environs
of Cracow. He was also an instructor at private schools of
painting for women. Stanislawski’s students formed a large
group of landscape painters, many of whom achieved con-
siderable popularity. Among his pupils were Vlastimil Hof-
man and Tadeusz Makowski. The first collective exhibition
of Stanislawski’s students was held in the Warsaw “Zachq-
ta” Gallery already in 1904.
Stanislawski was one of the most active and popular
figures in the cultural and artistic life of Cracow. He was
on the board of the Polish Applied Art Society, the Na-
tional Museum Committee and the Committee for the
Restoration of Wawel Castle. He had close links with the
“Green Balloon” and “Paon” cabarets and his home was
a venue for meetings and discussions among artists and
intellectuals. Stanislawski was famous for his radical views
on art (he only approved of landscape painting) and
stormy temperament.
The artist travelled a great deal, often visiting his mother in
Kiev. His Ukrainian homeland provided him with his favou-
rite landscape motifs. He also made many trips to Italy,
taking delight in painting local themes. Apart from Paris,
which had been close to his heart since his youth, Stanislaw-
ski also frequently travelled to Vienna, Munich and Berlin.
Stanislawski’s oeuvre consists solely of landscapes and
vedutas. Following a realist period in his youth, the art-
ist went through a phase akin to Impressionism, which
he next abandoned for synthetic compositions charac-
terized by the use of flat, roundish patches with frayed
contours. Stanislawski painted mostly small-scale pic-
tures. In his mature period, he pushed this tendency to
the extreme, producing paintings of truly diminutive di-
mensions. He preferred painting on cardboard, which
simplified work outdoors.
After Stanislawski’s sudden, premature death, there
were plans to establish a prize for students of the Cra-
cow Academy of Fine Arts to commemorate his name.
Unfortunately, this idea was never put into practice. In
1907, posthumous exhibitions of Stanislawski’s works
were held in Cracow and Warsaw. The achievements of
Stanislawski and his students were recalled in 1933 du-
ring a large exhibition held in Cracow, Lvov and War-
saw. In 1957, on the fiftieth anniversary of Stanislawski’s
death, retrospective exhibitions of his art were organ-
ized in Cracow, Lvov and Kiev.
152
Stanislawski
1860 Olszana - 1907 Cracow
Jan Stanislawski’s family, resident in a faraway part
of the Ukraine, was one of the many Polish families
from the borderlands who had assimilated into the
reality of the Russian empire. The painter’s father, Anto-
ni - a lawyer and a poet - was a lecturer at the Univer-
sities of Kazan and Kharkov. He had also made a name
for himself as the translator of Dante’s Divine Comedy
into Polish and Russian.
Jan Stanislawski attended secondary school in Kazan
and Kiev. Next he completed mathematical studies in
Warsaw and went to St Petersburg to study at the Insti-
tute of Technology. Soon, however, he returned to War-
saw with the intention of devoting his life to art and
joined the Drawing Class of Wojciech Gerson. In 1883-
1884, he also studied at the School of Fine Arts in Cra-
cow, inter alia, under Wladyslaw tuszczkiewicz. Al-
ready in 1883, Stanislawski’s first works were exhibited by
the Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts in War-
saw. In the years 1885-1888, the artist studied in Paris at
the atelier of Emile Carolus-Duran. In 1890, he exhib-
ited for the first time his Ukrainian landscapes at the Sa-
lon du Champ de Mars, winning praise from the critics.
From 1895 to 1896, he contributed some landscape sec-
tions to The Crossing of the Berezina panorama (work-
ing jointly with Julian Falat, Wojciech Kossak and others),
and in 1896-1898 - to the Golgotha panorama (painted
with Jan Styka, Tadeusz Popiel and Zygmunt Rozwa-
dowski). In those years Stanislawski participated in
numerous exhibitions, for instance in Kiev and Berlin.
In 1897, Stanislawski became one of the founders of the
Polish Artists’ Society “Sztuka”, of which he was a board
member and, for a while, President. He took part in all the
collective exhibitions organized by the Society in Poland
and abroad. In the same year he was appointed “provision-
al instructor” at the School of Fine Arts in Cracow. In 1900,
Stanislawski became a professor extraordinarius of that
School, and six years later was promoted to the rank of
professor ordinarius. At the School (later turned into an
Academy) he taught landscape classes and often took his
students to plein-air sessions in Zakopane or the environs
of Cracow. He was also an instructor at private schools of
painting for women. Stanislawski’s students formed a large
group of landscape painters, many of whom achieved con-
siderable popularity. Among his pupils were Vlastimil Hof-
man and Tadeusz Makowski. The first collective exhibition
of Stanislawski’s students was held in the Warsaw “Zachq-
ta” Gallery already in 1904.
Stanislawski was one of the most active and popular
figures in the cultural and artistic life of Cracow. He was
on the board of the Polish Applied Art Society, the Na-
tional Museum Committee and the Committee for the
Restoration of Wawel Castle. He had close links with the
“Green Balloon” and “Paon” cabarets and his home was
a venue for meetings and discussions among artists and
intellectuals. Stanislawski was famous for his radical views
on art (he only approved of landscape painting) and
stormy temperament.
The artist travelled a great deal, often visiting his mother in
Kiev. His Ukrainian homeland provided him with his favou-
rite landscape motifs. He also made many trips to Italy,
taking delight in painting local themes. Apart from Paris,
which had been close to his heart since his youth, Stanislaw-
ski also frequently travelled to Vienna, Munich and Berlin.
Stanislawski’s oeuvre consists solely of landscapes and
vedutas. Following a realist period in his youth, the art-
ist went through a phase akin to Impressionism, which
he next abandoned for synthetic compositions charac-
terized by the use of flat, roundish patches with frayed
contours. Stanislawski painted mostly small-scale pic-
tures. In his mature period, he pushed this tendency to
the extreme, producing paintings of truly diminutive di-
mensions. He preferred painting on cardboard, which
simplified work outdoors.
After Stanislawski’s sudden, premature death, there
were plans to establish a prize for students of the Cra-
cow Academy of Fine Arts to commemorate his name.
Unfortunately, this idea was never put into practice. In
1907, posthumous exhibitions of Stanislawski’s works
were held in Cracow and Warsaw. The achievements of
Stanislawski and his students were recalled in 1933 du-
ring a large exhibition held in Cracow, Lvov and War-
saw. In 1957, on the fiftieth anniversary of Stanislawski’s
death, retrospective exhibitions of his art were organ-
ized in Cracow, Lvov and Kiev.
152